Watch Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, & Hoover

Taft began as T. Roosevelt's handpicked Republican successor, but they quarreled and split the party, allowing the idealistic Wilson to become the first Democratic president of the 20th century. He failed to keep America out of World War I or to join the League of Nations. While his Republican successors Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover promoted the business boom of the 20's, economic and military shadows were growing around the world.